Girl Found Tortured Without Toenails in Horrifying Murder Case

Do you know how to CPR? >> Yes, I do. Unfortunately, >> I hear the I hear the EMS coming. >> Multiple calls to 911, an alleged 12. reports of possible child abuse to the. Department of Child Safety by school. personnel, and another five by police, countless injuries, and years of. apparent abuse that a doctor called. torture. A 10-year-old girl is dead out. in Arizona at the end of July and some. family members say there is plenty of.

blame to go around. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law on Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. [Music]. We have an absolutely heartbreaking. story out of Arizona that we want to. talk about. It's about a 10-year-old. girl named Rebecca Baptiste. This little. girl whose life, prosecutors say, was. essentially a living hell. But now, an. Arizona couple is facing first-degree. murder charges after Rebecca was found. unresponsive near a highway intersection.

last month, later dying from her. injuries. Authorities arrested the. girl's father, 32-year-old Richard. Baptiste, and his 29-year-old. girlfriend, Anio Woods, in connection. with this little girl's death. And the. allegations against these two are. horrifying. July 27th, Woods called 911, telling dispatchers that Rebecca wasn't. breathing. And that call paints a. chilling picture of what happened. >> Location of your emergency.

>> What's the location? >> We're We're on I 80 headed towards. Hullbrook. It's my daughter. She's with us. We live. out in the desert and we are pulling ass. to the EMS station. Now, investigators. say that Rebecca had been living in a. remote home with her father and his. girlfriend and had apparently ran away. multiple times. >> She ran away for the third time in a. week in the desert. And when they when. the neighbor found her in the wash, she.

was unresponsive completely. And by the. time she got back to the house, she was. barely breathing. So, I'm breathing for. her now. Unresponsive, unconscious, unable to. breathe for herself. Is she breathing? I'm waiting for her. >> What do you mean? >> I am putting my mouth around her. >> Yes. >> The dispatcher urges Woods to pull over.

and wait for EMS. >> I need you to pull over so that I can. page him out to you and we can start. CPR. >> Would it be easier if we just Is it. going to be better for me to keep going? I understand that. I need you to pull. over so I don't have EMS meet you. >> And when asked if she knew CPR, Woods. replied, >> "Have you got her on the flat ground? Solid ground?". >> Yeah. She's in the car. >> Okay. I need you on the ground.

>> On the rock. >> I need her on a flash ground so that you. can administer CPR. >> Do you know how to CPR? Yes, I do, unfortunately. >> Are you wanting to play secret or are. you waiting for EMS? >> I'm waiting for them cuz I'm trying to. get her breath. >> You're not doing this on a block. >> Okay, I'm going let you go down there. >> Yep.

>> She ran away and they found her in the. wash and she's been under. >> And the call ends with sirens in the. background. And although that 911 call. was made by the woman later identified. as Ania Woods, police say she was not. Rebecca's biological mother. She'd just. been dating Rebecca's father, Richard. Baptiste. And according to the Apache. County Sheriff's Office, and as reported. by a family, ABC 1512 News, Hullbrook. police found the gravely injured. 10-year-old at the intersection of two.

highways on July 27th. She was rushed to. a nearby medical facility but died from. her injuries 3 days later on July 30th. And during a recent court hearing, prosecutors shared just absolutely. harrowing details from medical personnel. who examined Rebecca. Reports from AZ. Family and ABC15 revealed that she. showed signs of severe dehydration, malnourishment, was missing toenails, was covered in injuries that prosecutors. contend were the result of physical.

abuse, sexual abuse, prolonged torture, and now a newly released police report. offers an even closer look at what. prosecutors allege happened to Rebecca. But be warned, the details only grow. more disturbing. Now, law in crime, we. obtained a comprehensive 33-page. incident report from the Navajo County. Sheriff's Office, which provides. disturbing accounts of law enforcement's. interactions with Richard Baptiste and. Anisha Woods, along with graphic. documentation of this little girl's. purported injuries, wounds that.

prosecutors say were caused by sustained. abuse. Now, before I go any further, I. want to bring on a special guest to help. me break all this down. somebody who has. expertise in these kinds of cases. Former criminal prosecutor and municipal. inspector Dan Shore. Uh Dan, good to see. you. By the way, this is a big day for. you. This is your new book releases, right? Open Bar comes out today. Can you. tell us a little bit more about it? >> Sure. So, my novel's called Open Bar. It's right here. And it's about a. different kind of abuse of youthful. individuals. It's about sexual abuse in.

a college softball program and the. behind-the-scenes events that occur when. you investigate those cases. It's based. on my experience as a sex crimes. prosecutor and an investigator of sexual. misconduct. So people can find that. online at Amazon or anywhere else or. they can find me on Substack to learn. more information about it. >> This is such a disheartening story. It. is not an easy one to cover, but it is. an important one to bring to you. nonetheless. And the reason we can do. that is because of the amazing support. that we get from our sponsors like.

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Upside or scan the QR code on screen and. make sure to use our promo code sidebar. because you'll get an extra 25 cents. back on every gallon on your first tank. of gas. So, like I said, you have the. expertise, unfortunately, to handle a. case like this. And let's get into it. So, I want to break down what's in this. report. Now, the first official law. enforcement report was generated on the. night of July 27th when responders found. Rebecca unresponsive. And as I. mentioned, she would succumb to her. injuries three days later while. hospitalized in Phoenix. During. interviews with Navajo County Sheriff's.

deputies that were conducted in. Hullbrook, Richard Baptiste disclosed. that the family had relocated. approximately 3 weeks earlier to Koncho. That's a remote community about 50 mi. southeast of Hullbrook within Apache. Apache County. And they had been living. in a settlement known as a yurt. It's a. semi-permanent tent-like structure that. didn't have electricity or running. water. But Richard explained their move. from Phoenix followed the death of his. great uncle, leaving only Richard and. his father responsible for this. property. And he described separating.

from the children's biological mother. about 9 years prior due to her alleged. substance abuse issues. During. questioning, investigators pressed. Baptiste about his past and whether. there had been any prior warnings about. the children's safety and his response. Richard also disclosed a history of. involvement with the Department of Child. Safety due to allegations of abuse, neglect, and possible sexual abuse. Richard advised each claim was. unsubstantiated. He mentioned that the. children had been in therapy and that.

Rebecca had previously tried to run away. multiple times in Phoenix. Baptist also. gave investigators his account of the. day that Rebecca ran away, describing. what he says happened in the hours. before she was found. The report reads, "Richard confirmed that the family woke. up around 7 or 8:00 a.m., but didn't get. up until 9 or 10:00 a.m. After. breakfast, the children went off to play. and stood under a tree. Richard started. taking care of things around the. property and tried to unpack and change. a flat tire. At some point, Richard. realized that Rebecca was gone and he.

began searching for her. Richard and his. partner, Anio, searched for about an. hour before Rebecca was found and. brought back by an unknown male. neighbor." Let's stop right there. What. are you taking away from this uh right. now, Dan? >> Well, I I in addition to prosecuting sex. crimes, I also prosecuted homicide cases. in New York City as an assistant DA. And. unfortunately, there are cases like this. where there's rampid child abuse. One. thing that is really shocking here is. the extent of the injuries. According to. the the medical exam that was done on.

the body, you according to the police. report, there was bruising on the face, the arms, the legs, the pelvic area, vaginal bruising, severe dehydration. and there was a missing toenail. So, this is not something that comes. quickly. If someone falls or gets hurt, they don't just sustain bruising like. that and dehydration like that. So, this. shows all the signs of rampant long-term. abuse. And I'm sure we'll talk about it. There's also a lot of reports from other. people that they called in suspected. abusely. So, I'm sure we'll get to that,

but to me, there are so many signs here. that this was an ongoing pattern of. abuse, which is just heartbreaking that. someone would experience that, especially a 10-year-old child. >> Yeah. When it came time to address. Rebecca's injuries, documented, by the. way, in graphic photos, Baptist first. claimed they were the result of her. falling into a wash or tripping over. barbed wire while running away. But when. an experienced investigator reviewed the. images, his reaction was one of horror.

The report reads, "I have investigated. many deaths, car accidents, homicides, blunt force trauma related deaths, and. others. I have investigated countless. assaults, fights, domestic violence. incidents, and other incidents of child. abuse. I had never seen anything like. the photos of Rebecca and her injuries. From head to toe, I saw injuries on. Rebecca's body. I could see redness on. the scalp and no roots to her hair. I. saw uniform whipping marks on her side. which wrapped around to her back. I saw. a whipping mark that looked as if it. possibly was the same level as the.

others but stopped at her elbow taking. flesh off of her elbow. I saw these. injuries to be in different stages of. bruising and bleeding healing. I saw. unimaginable bruising around Rebecca's. pelvic, abdomen, and leg area where. Rebecca suffered extreme injuries. I saw. injuries on Rebecca's shoulders, arms, and legs, and toes where one of her. toenails was missing. You know, Dan, we. talk about how children are an. interesting kind of victim here in that, yes, they tumble around. They may have.

more injuries than a an adult, right? Because they can tussle around, they. play, they fall. This is different, right? This goes over the line. This is. something that a seasoned investigator. would say. the degree of the injuries, the state of the injuries, that tells a. different story. >> I would say even if you're not a. seasoned investigator, this would tell. you that this is rampant, long-term, horrendous child abuse because there are. so many injuries to so many parts of the. body. Yes, children fall, children play, they get bruising. Children always have.

bruises on their legs or their arms from. just playing around, but not like this. not all over the body, not in so many. places, not with such an extent of. damage to her body that it can only be. caused by intentional actions by another. individual based on my experience. And I. don't think you even need much. experience to be able to see the extent. of the horrific injuries here and reach. that conclusion. And when confronted. with those images, Baptiste at first. claimed he didn't know where many of the. injuries had come from, but then. ultimately allegedly admitted that most.

of the bruising was caused by what he. called excessive force at his own hands. The report reads, "Richard claimed to. not know where all the injuries came. from on her body. However, the majority. of the bruising Richard claimed was from. excessive force caused by himself. I. showed another photo and asked Richard. how he could have done this to his. daughter." Richard replied, "It wasn't. supposed to do that. I pointed to many. different bruises on the front of. Rebecca's pelvic area and asked where. all of the bruises were from." Richard.

claimed they were from the belt. The. detective then pressed further, asking. what he had to say for himself. Quote, "Richard kept his eyes squinted but. maintained nearly no emotion. I asked. Richard what he had to say about himself. at this time. Richard told me he didn't. deserve to be a dad. I provided an out. for Richard, claiming maybe he was drunk. or lost his temper. Instead, Richard. shook his head no and stated I used. excessive force. I asked Richard how his. girlfriend could just sit by and watch. Richard replied, "I don't even know how.

I could do that." And in reference to. the photos of the injuries, Richard. eventually stated, "I used excessive. force. I'm not denying that." I offered. to go through these injuries one by one, but Richard asked if that was necessary. and stated in admission of, "I used the. belt and I used excessive force in. reference to the injuries." Richard also. admitted, "I came down with force with. those whoopings." Now, obviously from a. defense perspective, Dan, they would. love to get that alleged confession out. and make sure our jury never hears it,

but if they can't do that, that's pretty. damning. >> Absolutely. and he's admitted to causing. injuries. He hasn't admitted to. intending to kill her. And maybe he. didn't intend to kill her, but it is. certainly the direct result of someone. causing extensive injuries throughout. her body. And it's horrific what the. father, if he did what he said he did, and it's certainly corroborated by these. injuries. If he did this, it's horrific.

But what is even an additional layer of. heartbreak is how the system failed this. 10-year-old girl. because we know there. are people unfortunately in this world. who are abusive to children. But we're. supposed to have a system that detects. that, sees warning signs, reports it so. children can be removed from a home when. there's signs of abuse. And I know. that's being looked at here, but clearly. other people saw warning signs and that. didn't lead to helping her. That didn't. lead to saving her. And the system. clearly failed this girl in a huge way. even beyond just her father being.

responsible for her death. if all the. facts that we have are accurate, and we. have no reason to believe they're not. >> And at this point, Rebecca, by the way, was still alive. She was fighting for. her life in a hospital bed. But when. detectives confronted Richard with the. possible legal consequences if she died, the report says he showed quote minimal. concern about losing his daughter or. facing charges. The investigation also. revealed that Richard's prior. involvement with the Arizona Department. of Child Safety was extensive.

allegations of abuse, neglect, possible. sexual abuse, all of which he dismissed. as unfounded. He acknowledged his. children had attended therapy, admitted. Rebecca had tried to run away multiple. times while they lived in Phoenix. But. despite Richard's denial that he ever. abused Rebecca, police say she had tried. to run away before, not once, not twice, but multiple times. That history became. clear when investigators spoke with his. girlfriend, Anio Woods. Woods described. three separate runaway attempts in. Koncho plus another incident before the.

move in Phoenix. She said Rebecca jumped. out of an open window before being. caught. So the first incident in Koncho. occurred about a week after they moved. in apparently with a second incident. reportedly happening just 3 days later. According to the report, Wood said as it. pertained to that second incident, she. had been hiding up in a tree for someone. to come up so she can go be with them. She knew that people were going to come. look for her. So, she was picking and. choosing which adult she was going to go. and say, "Can I live with you?" Now,

now, Ani was asked about her thoughts on. the consequences for someone who. seriously injured a 10-year-old girl. And her response, police say, was. notably unemotional. The report reads, "I specifically asked Ania what she. thought should happen to someone who. seriously injured a 10-year-old girl. She had an unemotional response and just. simply said that she didn't know, but. maybe some jail time. Dan, let's stop. there. First of all, this is their. perception of her emotions. Could be. accurate, could be not. The defense.

might fight back about that. The. allegations of running away, is that. something common you've seen? Not at. this age. So, I would say it's common. among teenagers who are abused that they. have the wherewithal to realize they. need to get away and they usually have. the ability to try to escape it all. But. for someone who's only 10, that is a. huge leap to actually try to run away. multiple times. And that shows that she. was aware of the need to escape in a way. that you don't see very often as someone.

that young. So I think that's even more. corroboration as it and there's plenty. of other corroboration. I don't think. this is even necessary to build a case, but this is even more corroboration that. there was severe ongoing abuse that. someone that young would decide I need. to get away. I need to run away. Because. as scary as it is for a teenager to run. away, it's even scarier for a. 10-year-old to be on their own just. trying to get away from their home, but. that showed that that was her last. resort because she recognized that she. was in a horrific situation and her life.

was in danger. And again, not only did. her father and his girlfriend fail her, but the whole system failed her. And. it's heartbreaking. And despite claiming experience as a. certified nursing assistant out in. California, Woods insisted that Rebecca. didn't need medical attention for her. severe injuries, believing the girl. would quote, "be fine." However, medical. staff diagnosed Rebecca with. catastrophic brain damage caused by. bleeding and swelling. There was no. detectable brain activity, and she was.

placed on life support until her death. on July 30th. So now these two, Woods. and Richard, now face murder and child. abuse charges connected to Rebecca's. death. And another critical aspect of. this case involves the role of the. Department of Child Safety, DCS. So. according to 12 News Arizona, the. department was contacted multiple times. before the tragic death of Rebecca. The. Phoenix Police Department confirmed that. they made five separate reports to DCS.

concerning Rebecca and her siblings. prior to her death. Police records. spanning from August 18th through April. 2025 show that Phoenix PD responded to. several incidents involving the Baptist. children, although none actually led to. criminal charges. In August 2018, officers conducted a welfare check. They. notified DCS. December 2023, another. welfare check prompted police and. detectives to contact the department. again. By February 2024, police.

responded to an accidental injury report. and alerted DCS. November 2024, investigators reported a child abuse and. neglect allegation. November 2024, investigators reported a child abuse and. neglect allegation. April 2025, officers. documented a case involving a minor. injury to a child, after which. detectives contacted DCS once more. And. the incident, by the way, in April of. 2025 drew particular attention from. Empower College Prep. This is Rebecca's.

former school. Executive Director Brian. Holman revealed that their school. resource officer observed visible. injuries during a home visit following. Rebecca's extended absence. In an. emotional interview with 12 News, empower administrators presented. documentation showing they made 12. separate reports to DCS concerning. Rebecca and her siblings. Although that. figure seems to conflict with DCS's. acknowledgement of only five school. initiated contacts with just one meeting.

investigation criteria. But in response. to mounting criticism, the Arizona. Department of Child Safety addressed. their statutory limitations expressed. sorrow over Rebecca Baptist death, saying in a statement, "It is with a. heavy heart that we acknowledge the. death of Rebecca Baptiste, a child who. is known to the department anytime a. child in our community is harmed. It. deeply affects us all, especially when. we know the family. Our dedicated staff. work tirelessly to ensure the safety of. all children. But tragically, those who. intend to harm children can sometimes.

evade even the most robust systems. designed to protect them. In response to. this incident, the department is. actively collaborating with law. enforcement in a joint investigation to. ensure that the people responsible for. this heinous act are brought to justice. Now, before we move forward with their. response, Dan, what do you take away. from their response? What do you take. away from the allegations that there. were multiple reported incidents in the. past? >> Right. Right. And as you said, there was. a dispute about how many times there. were reports, but there's no doubt there.

were reports. So before anyone gets to. who's at fault, we can say 100% sure the. system failed her. The system failed. this girl. People saw signs of abuse. There were reports of the abuse. It went. to the right place and she was allowed. to stay in that home, experienced more. abuse, and she was killed as a result. So the system failed her. And there. needs to be an independent look into. what was reported, what was the response. to those reports. Not just to blame.

people, but also to make sure that in. the future things are handled. differently because whatever the system. is right now that's working over there. in DCS, it did not help this girl. And. we need to make sure that future reports. lead to more meaningful interactions by. law enforcement or DCS to hopefully. protect other children. Well, the. Department of Child Safety, they sought. to clarify some public misconceptions. that they see about their involvement in. this case, addressing specific reports. that were made by Empower School and. others. They go went on to say, "The. department would like to correct some.

information made public by other sources. related to the death of Rebecca. Baptiste." According to department. records, Empower School called the. hotline five times in the past year, and. one time the allegation met statutory. report criteria. The other four times. the department was not able to. investigate the allegations because they. did not meet the statutory threshold for. abuse or neglect. We do not have any. records that a relative called the. hotline after 2019 to allege abuse or. neglect of Rebecca or her siblings. Now,

the Department of Child Safety also. emphasized their commitment to. protecting children while explaining the. limits of what they can do, their. authority, saying, "We take every call. to our hotline seriously, but we only. have the authority to initiate an. investigation if the call meets. statutory report criteria." Rebecca. deserve love, safety, and a chance to. thrive. There are no words that will. make sense of the pain she endured or. her life that was tragically cut short. Her loss is a sorrow that we carry. deeply, a reminder of the work we must. never stop doing. We know this loss is.

felt most deeply by her school community. that saw Rebecca most often. In honoring. her memory, the department will strive. to educate our schools to better. understand what meets report criteria so. that when they do make a call to the. hotline, we can take appropriate action. And DCS outlined the specific criteria. that determine whether a report meets. the threshold for investigation. per. their statement. According to Arizona. Revised Statutes uh 8-455, a communication qualifies as a report.

when the source alleges that a parent's. conduct has either harmed a child or. placed them at substantial risk of harm. Now, notably, the legislature revised. this language in 2022, changing the. standard from unreasonable risk of harm. to substantial risk of harm. So, general. complaints about poor parenting, they're. not going to meet the criteria for a. report. And if a call doesn't meet these. standards, it's categorized separately, reviewed again by a unit supervisor to. ensure there's no concerns that are. overlooked. And when a report moves.

forward to investigation, specific legal. requirements govern the removal of. children from the home. State law. mandates the use of a safety assessment. model, which can only be altered through. the legislature. And under this model, children have to be found to be in. present or impending danger with no. other viable solution besides removal. The investigation process requires. interviews with alleged victims, perpetrators, other household members. Now, neither the department nor law. enforcement has the authority to compel.

participation, and that can limit the. ability to gather sufficient evidence to. justify uh removal in court. But the. department's safety analysis review team. said they would conduct a thorough. review of this case to identify any. systemic barriers that may have. influenced what happened here. The. department also pledged to maintain. transparency, share information about. their involvement with the family as. they are legally allowed to do so. So. Dan, I I mean real quick before we wrap. things up, there are limitations here, >> right? But if there are limitations, those limitations have to change. So. whether that's changing statutory.

criteria, whether that's changing. internal procedures at Department of. Child Safety, whatever needs to be. changed, we have to start with the basic. fact that the system failed this girl. that there was there were signs of. abuse, there was reporting of abuse, she. was remained in the home and she was. killed. So something needs to change. It. can't go forward with the same criteria, the same processes that were in place. here because they were not meaningful. for this girl. Now, we mentioned earlier.

that Richard Baptist made his first. court appearance in Apache County along. with Ania Woods. And after initially. being held without bond, a judge set $1. million bonds for both defendants this. past week. They face first-degree. murder, child abuse charges. Preliminary. hearing is scheduled for September 4th. out in Apache County. Dan Shore, thank. you so much for coming on. Appreciate. it. >> Thank you, Jesse. Thank you for covering. this important story and it's always. good to talk with you. >> All right, so quick programming alert. before uh we wrap things up. I'm. actually going to be hosting Cuomo. tonight on NewsNation 8:00 PM Eastern.

One of the things we're going to be. doing is taking your calls about any of. the true crime cases that we've covered. here on Sidebar. I'm going to post it on. social media with the number. You can. check it out. I'll see you tonight, 8:00. p.m. Eastern, Cuomo on NewsNation. All. right, everybody. That's all we have for. you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you. so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time. [Music].